Post by Frank Creed on May 1, 2008 18:06:29 GMT -5
Well, I am off on another rant. It seems to be cathartic to squeeze a little rant in between writing articles and working on War of Attrition: Book Two of the Underground. Since the kitties scoff at rants, I have had to find a new audience.
This rant has been long in the coming, but an email I received today sealed my fate. My publisher entered me in the IPPY Awards (for Independent Publishers). Along with learning that the semi-finalists will be announced next week, I discovered a nifty link to the IPPY Awards merchandise pages. Now, stop and think for a moment, what would you expect to find on these pages to purchase? IPPY t-shirts, IPPY ball caps, perhaps IPPY BBQ aprons – all proudly displaying the fact that an author had won or at least was a semi-finalist in this wonderful award.
Not.
The merchandise link brought me to two pages of: Gold, Silver, Bronze Medallion images, stickers, bling . . . I admit, I was dreaming what if I won something. Here goes:
For $35 I can receive an IPPY Medallion to wear around the house.
For a roll of 250 stickers to place on my winning novel, the cost is $40.
For a mere $45 I can get an IPPY medallion image to place on my website – how cool is that (it is a TIFF afterall)!
And, the real kicker:
For a mere $4.50 I can receive my very own IPPY Award Certificate.
What is this all about?
To add insult to injury, my publisher had to pay an entry fee for the privilege of being judged by noteables: $85. Yeah, yeah I know. No reliable book award organization charges for nominations. But the IPPYs do have some marketing value and are well-respected. And, considering the other awards available, they rank nicely in my book.
The stickers I understand paying for, but not the rest. You’d think the Jenkins Group (you know, Jerry Jenkins money-making-machine – no, not Tim LeHaye one, Jerry’s other license to print money) could at least spring for the certificate and website image!
I mean, does Katharine Hepburn have to pay for her little nude Emilio "El Indio" Fernández statues?
This rant has been long in the coming, but an email I received today sealed my fate. My publisher entered me in the IPPY Awards (for Independent Publishers). Along with learning that the semi-finalists will be announced next week, I discovered a nifty link to the IPPY Awards merchandise pages. Now, stop and think for a moment, what would you expect to find on these pages to purchase? IPPY t-shirts, IPPY ball caps, perhaps IPPY BBQ aprons – all proudly displaying the fact that an author had won or at least was a semi-finalist in this wonderful award.
Not.
The merchandise link brought me to two pages of: Gold, Silver, Bronze Medallion images, stickers, bling . . . I admit, I was dreaming what if I won something. Here goes:
For $35 I can receive an IPPY Medallion to wear around the house.
For a roll of 250 stickers to place on my winning novel, the cost is $40.
For a mere $45 I can get an IPPY medallion image to place on my website – how cool is that (it is a TIFF afterall)!
And, the real kicker:
For a mere $4.50 I can receive my very own IPPY Award Certificate.
What is this all about?
To add insult to injury, my publisher had to pay an entry fee for the privilege of being judged by noteables: $85. Yeah, yeah I know. No reliable book award organization charges for nominations. But the IPPYs do have some marketing value and are well-respected. And, considering the other awards available, they rank nicely in my book.
The stickers I understand paying for, but not the rest. You’d think the Jenkins Group (you know, Jerry Jenkins money-making-machine – no, not Tim LeHaye one, Jerry’s other license to print money) could at least spring for the certificate and website image!
I mean, does Katharine Hepburn have to pay for her little nude Emilio "El Indio" Fernández statues?
